让孩子到户外去的3个步骤

让孩子到户外去的3个步骤

We know kids need to spend more time outside, but how does a parent go about making that happen?

我们都知道孩子们需要花更多的时间在户外，但是父母该如何做到呢?

Children spend half the amount of time playing outdoors that their parents did. Whereas older generations spent an average of 8.2 hours playing outside when they were young, kids nowadays spend just over four hours a week outside. This is an enormous decrease, driven by a number of factors that include parental fear of traffic and 'stranger danger', the lure of technology in the form of social media and online games, and a wealth of engaging indoor activities.

孩子们在户外玩耍的时间是他们父母的一半。老一辈人年轻时平均花8.2个小时在户外玩耍，而现在的孩子每周花在户外的时间仅超过4个小时。这是一个巨大的减少，由许多因素驱动，包括父母对交通和“陌生人的危险”的恐惧，社交媒体和网络游戏形式的技术的诱惑，以及丰富的参与室内活动。

©. K Martinko

Being indoors is not necessarily bad, as it can lead kids to develop valuable reading skills, learn musical instruments and languages, and participate in organized sports; but when that indoor time takes over kids' lives and makes outdoor playtime virtually nonexistent, it becomes a serious matter.

待在室内并不一定是坏事，因为它可以引导孩子发展有价值的阅读技能，学习乐器和语言，并参加有组织的体育活动;但当室内时间占据了孩子们的生活，使户外游戏时间几乎不存在时，这就成了一个严重的问题。

An article called 'Are Kids Extinct in the Wild?' suggests a three-part solution to getting kids outside. This includes:

一篇名为《野外孩子灭绝了吗?》提出了一个让孩子到户外活动的三步解决方案。这包括:

1. Set sensible indoor boundaries

设置合理的室内界限

2. Make the outdoors fun again

让户外再次充满乐趣

3. Safely relax

安全地放松

Parents have a responsibility to set firm limits, using phone and Internet settings, as well as hashing out device contracts with older kids and setting strict rules for younger ones. For example, one could say 'no devices during the school week', 'a 15-minute daily limit on the iPad,' or 'no screen time till you've spent an hour outside.' Once technology is off-limits, kids will seek alternative forms of entertainment, hopefully outdoors.

父母有责任对使用手机和网络设置进行严格限制，也有责任与年龄较大的孩子解除设备合同，并对年幼的孩子制定严格的规定。例如，有人可能会说，“上学期间禁止使用任何设备”，“每天使用iPad的时间限制为15分钟”，或者“在户外待上一小时之前禁止使用屏幕”。一旦禁止使用科技产品，孩子们就会寻求其他娱乐方式，希望是户外。

The second point -- make the outdoors fun again -- is important, too. For years I wished my kids could entertain themselves better outside, but they don't. They often beg me to join them or say they don't know what to do. Until I read Linda Åkeson McGurk's book, There's No Such Thing as Bad Weather, I thought I was doing something wrong; but no, she had the same problem.

第二点——让户外再次充满乐趣——也很重要。多年来，我一直希望我的孩子们能在外面玩得更好，但他们没有。他们经常求我加入他们，或者说他们不知道该做什么。直到我读了琳达·艾奇森·麦格克的书，“世界上没有坏天气这回事，我认为我做错了什么事;但是没有，她也有同样的问题。

I realized then that when kids are small it's really OK to be the driving force behind getting them outside. It takes commitment and stubbornness, but if the parent absolutely insists on taking a child for walks in the forests, visits to the park, arranging outdoor playdates and beachcombing expeditions, then that love for nature will develop organically. But it does take parental initiative, like it or not, especially when those kids are small. Much like teaching them to eat vegetables, and trying over and over again no matter their reaction, getting kids outside on a daily basis must come from the parent.

后来我意识到，当孩子们还小的时候，成为他们外出的驱动力是很好的。这需要承诺和固执，但如果父母绝对坚持带孩子到森林里散步，游览公园，安排户外活动和海滩探险，那么对自然的热爱就会有机地发展。但不管你喜不喜欢，这确实需要父母的主动，尤其是当孩子还小的时候。就像教他们吃蔬菜，不管他们的反应如何，一遍又一遍地尝试一样，让孩子每天到户外活动必须来自父母。

© K Martinko -- My kids and I like poking around in the forest near our house, even if we only have a short window of opportunity.

Finally, safely relax is a reminder that many of the dangers parents fret about are quite pointless. The world is safer now than ever; kidnapping is statistically negligible. Traffic is a real concern, but kids age 4 and up (of course, this is a generalization since every kid is different) are smart enough to learn rules about staying off the road. Eliminating all risk, however, should never be the goal. Play is a way for kids "to make mistakes within well-defined parameters," which is far preferable to making those mistakes in real, adult life.

最后，安全放松提醒我们，父母担心的许多危险是毫无意义的。世界比以往任何时候都更安全;绑架在统计上是微不足道的。交通是一个真正的问题，但4岁及以上的孩子(当然，这是一个概括，因为每个孩子都是不同的)足够聪明，学会了远离道路的规则。然而，消除所有风险绝不应该是目标。玩耍是孩子们“在明确定义的范围内犯错误”的一种方式，这比在真实的成人生活中犯错误要好得多。

Children have the right to be outside every single day. It will make them happier, healthier, stronger, more focused, more agile, smarter. It will give them a friend, a sense of companionship, a place where they can always go and feel comforted. It will teach them to respect the planet and want to protect it. The absolute best time to initiate this relationship between child and nature is now, so why not start today?

儿童有权每天外出。这会让他们更快乐、更健康、更强壮、更专注、更敏捷、更聪明。这会给他们一个朋友，一种陪伴感，一个他们可以随时去并感到安慰的地方。这将教会他们尊重和保护地球。开启孩子与自然的关系的绝对最佳时机是现在，所以为什么不从今天开始呢?